As summers are upon us and the most of us are eagerly awaiting summer vacations. This used to be the best part of the year, Amazing plans are made for a fun-filled holiday and along with the many other activities

Growth of the online travel industry last couple of year along with low cost airline provided people with lot more information & options at their fingertips. At the same time, travel industry providers have grown exponentially in India, so vacationers have more options than ever

According to Amadeus-Frost & Sullivan tourism industry report, Indians travelling to Asia-Pacific alone spent $13.3 billion in 2011. This figure is set to zoom to $91 billion by 2030, making Indians the second-biggest spenders, after China, in the world on overseas travel

Worldwide by 2020, the number of tourists flying to international destinations will grow to more than 1.6 billion people per year [source: United Nations World Tourism Organisation]. Many travels will journey to some of world's most diverse locations and some of them will visit endangered ecosystems.

While travelling itself leads to increased carbon foot print but there are many ways we as a informed travellers can reduce the harsh effects on the mother earth by taking few steps like these

Water Bottles

While having safe drinking water is a must while on vacation, carrying water bottles and fill them up in hotels would reduce plastics on the streets and in the oceans

Also one more option to buy a 5L/10L at a time and keep filling from it in reusable water bottles

Many places offer recycle bin and some places exchange machines that exchange for cash, use them

Don't waste water & power in hotel rooms

We do pay good money for staying in fancy hotels when travelling that doesn't mean we should waste the resources of

NATURE, always conserve water and electricity by switching them off when not in use

Towels & bed Lenin unused can save massive amounts of water in washing them, if not used/dirty try not to get them changed every day.

Many hotels have green practices that are displayed on their hotel websites, such as LED lighting, renewable energy usage in cooling/heating. Inform your travel agent to book such hotels

Eat and drink local

If you’ve travelled halfway around the world, it’s nice to eat food and drink that you’re familiar with but to provide such food it has to travel thousands of miles - Food and drink mileage is massive.

Drinking the local flavour will not only give you a taste of something new but also benefit the local economy and dramatically reduce your carbon impact. The same can be said for food - eat local, seasonal stuff.

Carry Shopping Bag/backpack

Carrying a Bag can avoid shopped items given in plastic bags, a small lifestyle change at home and while travelling can lead reduction in plastic usage.

Local travel can be green too

Local travelling can be green to by using public transport like metros/local busses than opting for individual motor vehicles. Do explore cycling options to nearby places (if possible)

Bamboo straws

Every drink ordered get offered a plastic straws in most cafes and restaurants around the world. Single use straws are one of the worst offenders when it comes to plastic finding its way into the natural world but also one of these easiest to remedy.

Best way is to order drinks and inform not give straw with it, if needed try 100% organic reusable bamboo/Paper based straws– they take no space in your luggage, are quick and easy to clean and could save our oceans. This could be as well followed every time you visit restaurants at home

While on vacation many times we need to keep our phone charged and may end up using public charging ports, cyber criminals use these public charging ports (typically in trains/plans/airports) to inject malware into your devices. They even steal data or take complete control of your device. Many users are unaware of this attack possibility and use this charging port carelessly to charge their personal devices like mobile phones and laptops.This is called Did you know about Juice Jacking

The best way to protect your device from being victimised by this attack is

Turn off the feature of data transfer while charging on your device

Do not use a cable that has both charging and data transfer facilities on public port. Use the charge only cables instead

Try to use a power bank while travelling

Switch off your cell-phone while charging it on a public port

Happy Travelling

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